executive summary of a research paper example

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An executive summary is a thorough overview of a research report or other type of document that synthesizes key points for its readers, saving them time and preparing them to understand the study's overall content. It is a separate, stand-alone document of sufficient detail and clarity to ensure that the reader can completely understand the contents of the main research study. An executive summary can be anywhere from 1-10 pages long depending on the length of the report, or it can be the summary of more than one document [e.g., papers submitted for a group project].

Bailey, Edward, P. The Plain English Approach to Business Writing . (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), p. 73-80 Todorovic, Zelimir William and Marietta Wolczacka Frye. “Writing Effective Executive Summaries: An Interdisciplinary Examination.” In United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Conference Proceedings . (Decatur, IL: United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, 2009): pp. 662-691.

Importance of a Good Executive Summary

Although an executive summary is similar to an abstract in that they both summarize the contents of a research study, there are several key differences. With research abstracts, the author's recommendations are rarely included, or if they are, they are implicit rather than explicit. Recommendations are generally not stated in academic abstracts because scholars operate in a discursive environment, where debates, discussions, and dialogs are meant to precede the implementation of any new research findings. The conceptual nature of much academic writing also means that recommendations arising from the findings are distributed widely and not easily or usefully encapsulated. Executive summaries are used mainly when a research study has been developed for an organizational partner, funding entity, or other external group that participated in the research . In such cases, the research report and executive summary are often written for policy makers outside of academe, while abstracts are written for the academic community. Professors, therefore, assign the writing of executive summaries so students can practice synthesizing and writing about the contents of comprehensive research studies for external stakeholder groups.

When preparing to write, keep in mind that:

• An executive summary is not an abstract.
• An executive summary is not an introduction.
• An executive summary is not a preface.
• An executive summary is not a random collection of highlights.

Christensen, Jay. Executive Summaries Complete The Report. California State University Northridge; Clayton, John. "Writing an Executive Summary that Means Business." Harvard Management Communication Letter (July 2003): 2-4; Keller, Chuck. "Stay Healthy with a Winning Executive Summary." Technical Communication 41 (1994): 511-517; Murphy, Herta A., Herbert W. Hildebrandt, and Jane P. Thomas. Effective Business Communications . New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997; Vassallo, Philip. "Executive Summaries: Where Less Really is More." ETC.: A Review of General Semantics 60 (Spring 2003): 83-90 .

Structure and Writing Style

Writing an Executive Summary

Read the Entire Document This may go without saying, but it is critically important that you read the entire research study thoroughly from start to finish before you begin to write the executive summary. Take notes as you go along, highlighting important statements of fact, key findings, and recommended courses of action. This will better prepare you for how to organize and summarize the study. Remember this is not a brief abstract of 300 words or less but, essentially, a mini-paper of your paper, with a focus on recommendations.

Isolate the Major Points Within the Original Document Choose which parts of the document are the most important to those who will read it. These points must be included within the executive summary in order to provide a thorough and complete explanation of what the document is trying to convey.

Separate the Main Sections Closely examine each section of the original document and discern the main differences in each. After you have a firm understanding about what each section offers in respect to the other sections, write a few sentences for each section describing the main ideas. Although the format may vary, the main sections of an executive summary likely will include the following:

• An opening statement, with brief background information,
• The purpose of research study,
• Method of data gathering and analysis,
• Overview of findings, and,
• A description of each recommendation, accompanied by a justification. Note that the recommendations are sometimes quoted verbatim from the research study.

Combine the Information Use the information gathered to combine them into an executive summary that is no longer than 10% of the original document. Be concise! The purpose is to provide a brief explanation of the entire document with a focus on the recommendations that have emerged from your research. How you word this will likely differ depending on your audience and what they care about most. If necessary, selectively incorporate bullet points for emphasis and brevity. Re-read your Executive Summary After you've completed your executive summary, let it sit for a while before coming back to re-read it. Check to make sure that the summary will make sense as a separate document from the full research study. By taking some time before re-reading it, you allow yourself to see the summary with fresh, unbiased eyes.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Length of the Executive Summary As a general rule, the correct length of an executive summary is that it meets the criteria of no more pages than 10% of the number of pages in the original document, with an upper limit of no more than ten pages [i.e., ten pages for a 100 page document]. This requirement keeps the document short enough to be read by your audience, but long enough to allow it to be a complete, stand-alone synopsis. Cutting and Pasting With the exception of specific recommendations made in the study, do not simply cut and paste whole sections of the original document into the executive summary. You should paraphrase information from the longer document. Avoid taking up space with excessive subtitles and lists, unless they are absolutely necessary for the reader to have a complete understanding of the original document. Consider the Audience Although unlikely to be required by your professor, there is the possibility that more than one executive summary will have to be written for a given document [e.g., one for policy-makers, one for private industry, one for philanthropists]. This may only necessitate the rewriting of the introduction and conclusion, but it could require rewriting the entire summary in order to fit the needs of the reader. If necessary, be sure to consider the types of audiences who may benefit from your study and make adjustments accordingly. Clarity in Writing One of the biggest mistakes you can make is related to the clarity of your executive summary. Always note that your audience [or audiences] are likely seeing your research study for the first time. The best way to avoid a disorganized or cluttered executive summary is to write it after the study is completed. Always follow the same strategies for proofreading that you would for any research paper. Use Strong and Positive Language Don’t weaken your executive summary with passive, imprecise language. The executive summary is a stand-alone document intended to convince the reader to make a decision concerning whether to implement the recommendations you make. Once convinced, it is assumed that the full document will provide the details needed to implement the recommendations. Although you should resist the temptation to pad your summary with pleas or biased statements, do pay particular attention to ensuring that a sense of urgency is created in the implications, recommendations, and conclusions presented in the executive summary. Be sure to target readers who are likely to implement the recommendations.

Bailey, Edward, P. The Plain English Approach to Business Writing . (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), p. 73-80; Christensen, Jay. Executive Summaries Complete The Report. California State University Northridge; Executive Summaries. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Clayton, John. "Writing an Executive Summary That Means Business." Harvard Management Communication Letter , 2003; Executive Summary. University Writing Center. Texas A&M University;  Green, Duncan. Writing an Executive Summary.   Oxfam’s Research Guidelines series ; Guidelines for Writing an Executive Summary. Astia.org; Markowitz, Eric. How to Write an Executive Summary. Inc. Magazine, September, 15, 2010; Kawaski, Guy. The Art of the Executive Summary. "How to Change the World" blog; Keller, Chuck. "Stay Healthy with a Winning Executive Summary." Technical Communication 41 (1994): 511-517; The Report Abstract and Executive Summary. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Writing Executive Summaries. Effective Writing Center. University of Maryland; Kolin, Philip. Successful Writing at Work . 10th edition. (Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2013), p. 435-437; Moral, Mary. "Writing Recommendations and Executive Summaries." Keeping Good Companies 64 (June 2012): 274-278; Todorovic, Zelimir William and Marietta Wolczacka Frye. “Writing Effective Executive Summaries: An Interdisciplinary Examination.” In United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Conference Proceedings . (Decatur, IL: United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, 2009): pp. 662-691.

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How To Write A High-Impact Executive Summary

By Derek Jansen | January 2018

In this post, I’ll deconstruct the often-misunderstood executive summary and show you how to develop a high-impact executive summary for your assignment, research report or even your dissertation or thesis.

So, what is an executive summary?

An executive summary (sometimes called an abstract ) is quite simply a summary of summaries. In other words, an executive summary provides a concise summary of each of your assignment or report chapters/sections . More specifically, it should communicate the key points/insights/findings/suggestions from the following chapters:

• Introduction
• Recommendations
• Implementation (if applicable)
• Reflection (if applicable)

I’ll discuss which key points from each section need to be addressed a bit later. On a separate note – if you’re writing an executive summary for a dissertation or thesis, all of the concepts described in this post will still apply to you, however, you’ll include an additional paragraph about your methodology, and you’ll likely spend more word count discussing your analysis findings.

The 4 Important Attributes Of An Exec Summary

Before I discuss what goes into the executive summary, let’s quickly look at 4 attributes that make for a strong executive summary:

#1 – It should be able to stand alone.

The executive summary should be able to stand independently as an informative document . In other words, the reader should be able to grasp your broad argument without having to read the full document. Further reading should be purely for attaining more detail. Simply put, the executive summary should be a “Mini-Me” of the assignment.

This independence means that anything you write in the executive summary will need to be re-stated in the body of your assignment. A common mistake that students make is to introduce key points in the executive summary and then not discuss them again in the document – accordingly, the marker must view the main document as missing these key points. Simply put – make sure you discuss key points in both the executive summary and the main body . It will feel repetitive at times – this is normal.

#2 – It should be written for the intelligent layman.

When crafting your executive summary, its useful to keep the intelligent layman front of mind. What I mean by this is that you should write your summary assuming that your reader (i.e. the marker) will be intelligent but won’t be familiar with your topic and/or industry. This means that you should explain any technical concepts, avoid jargon and explain acronyms before using them.

#3 – It should be concise.

Typically, your executive summary should be a one-pager (one and a half pages at worst). To summarise a 3000 – 5000-word document into one page is no easy task, so you’ll need to:

• Present only the most important information (key insights, recommendations, etc).
• Write concisely – i.e. with brevity and completeness.

To the first point, I’ll explain what the “most important” information is for each chapter shortly. To the second point (writing concisely), there are various ways to do this, including:

• Using simple, straightforward language.
• Using the active voice.
• Removing bloaty adverbs and adjectives.
• Reducing prepositional phrases.
• Avoiding noun strings.

Does this sound like gibberish to you? Don’t worry! The Writing Center at the University of Wisconson-Madison provides a practical guide to writing more concisely, which you can download here.

On a related note, you typically would not include headings, citations or bulleted/numbered lists in your executive summary. These visual components tend to use a lot of space, which comes at a premium, as you know.

#4 – It should be written last.

Given that your executive summary is a summary of summaries, it needs to be written last , only once you’ve identified all your key insights, recommendations and so on. This probably sounds obvious, but many students start writing the summary first (potentially because of its position in the document) and then end up re-writing it multiple times, or they don’t rewrite it and consequently end up with an executive summary which is misaligned with the main document.

Simply put, you should leave this section until everything else is completed. Once your core body content is completed, you should read through the entire document again and create a bullet-point list of all the key points . From this list, you should then craft your executive summary . The approach will also help you identify gaps, contradictions and misalignments in your main document.

So, what goes into an executive summary?

Right, let’s get into the meat of it and consider what exactly should go into your executive summary. As I’ve mentioned, you need to present only the absolutely key point points from each of your chapters, but what does this mean exactly?

Each chapter will typically take the form of 1 paragraph (with no headings) in your executive summary. So, 5 chapters means 5 paragraphs. Naturally, some will be longer than others (let this be informed by the mark allocation), but assuming one page contains 500 words, you’re aiming for roughly 100 words per paragraph (assuming a 5-paragraph structure). See why conciseness is key!

Now, let’s look at what the key points are for each chapter in the case of a typical MBA assignment or report. In the case of a dissertation or thesis, the paragraph structure would still mimic the chapter structure – you’d just have more chapters, and therefore, more paragraphs.

Paragraph 1: Introduction

This paragraph should cover the following points:

• A very brief explanation of the business (what does it do, for whom and where?).
• Clear identification and explanation of the problem or opportunity that will be the focus of the assignment/report.
• A clear statement of the purpose of the assignment (i.e. what research questions will you seek to answer?).
• Brief mention of what data sources were utilised (i.e. secondary research) and any fieldwork undertaken (i.e. primary research ).

In other words, your first paragraph should introduce the business, the problem/opportunity to be addressed, why it’s important, and how you approached your analysis. This paragraph should make it clear to the reader what the assignment is all about at a broad level. Here’s a practical example:

This assignment focuses on ABC Ltd, a XXX business based in XXX, which provides XXX to XXX customers. To date, the firm has relied almost exclusively on XXX marketing channel. Consequently, ABC Ltd has little understanding of consumer segments, wants, and needs. This marketing channel is now under regulatory threat due to XXX.  The core challenge, therefore, is that whilst ABC Ltd seeks to grow its market share, it has little understanding of its market characteristics or competitive set, and its sole marketing channel under regulatory threat. Accordingly, the objective of this assignment is XXX. The assignment draws on survey, interview, and industry data.

Paragraph 2: Analysis and findings

In this paragraph, you should discuss the following:

• What exactly did you analyse? For example, you might have analysed the macro context (i.e. PESTLE analysis), followed by the meso (i.e. competitor or industry analysis) and then the micro (i.e. internal organisational analysis).
• What were your key findings in relation to the purpose of the assignment? For example, you may have identified 4 potential causes of a problem and would then state them.

In other words, your second paragraph should concisely explain what you analysed and what your main findings were . An example of this:

Segmentation analysis, consisting of macro, industry and firm-level analyses, revealed a strong segmentation variable in the form of XXX, with distinct needs in each segment. Macro analysis revealed XXX, while industry and firm-level analyses suggested XXX. Subsequently, three potential target segments were established, namely XXX, XXX and XXX.  These were then evaluated using the Directional Policy Matrix, and the results indicated XXX.

From a presentation perspective, you might structure this section as:

• Analysis 1, findings from analysis 1.
• Analysis 2, findings from analysis 2.
• Analysis 3, findings from analysis 3.

Importantly, you should only discuss the findings that are directly linked to the research questions (i.e. the purpose of the assignment) – don’t digress into interesting but less relevant findings. Given that the analysis chapter typically counts for a large proportion of marks, you could viably write 2-3 paragraphs for this. Be guided by the mark allocation.

Lastly, you should ensure that the findings you present here align well with the recommendations you’ll make in the next paragraph. Think about what your recommendations are, and, if necessary, reverse engineer this paragraph to create a strong link and logical flow from analysis to recommendations.

Paragraph 3: Recommendations

With the key findings from your analysis presented in the preceding paragraph, you should now discuss the following:

• What are your key recommendations?
• How do these solve the problems you found in your analysis?
• Were there any further conclusions?

Simply put, this paragraph (or two) should present the main recommendations and justify their use (i.e. explain how they resolve the key issue). As mentioned before, it’s critically important that your recommendations tightly align with (and resolve) the key issues that you identified in the analysis. An example:

Based on the Directional Policy Matrix analysis, it is recommended that the firm target XXX segment, because of XXX. On this basis, a positioning of XXX is proposed, as this aligns with the segment’s key needs. Furthermore, a provisional high-level marketing mix is proposed. The key aspects of the marketing mix include XXX, XXX and XXX, as these align with the firm’s positioning of XXX. By adopting these recommendations, the key issue of XXX will be resolved.

Also, note that (typically) the tone changes from past to present tense when you get to the recommendations section.

Paragraph 4: Implementation

If your assignment brief requires an implementation/project plan-type section, this paragraph will typically include the following points:

• Time requirements (how long will it take?)
• People requirements (what skills are needed and where do you find them?)
• Money requirements (what budget is required?)
• How will the project or change be managed? (i.e. project management plan)
• What risks exist and how will these be managed?

Depending on what level of detail is required by your assignment brief, you may need to present more, less or other details in this section. As always, be guided by the assignment brief.

A practical example:

A high-level implementation plan is proposed, including a stakeholder analysis, project plan and business case. Resource requirements are presented, detailing XXX, XXX and XXX requirements. A risk analysis is presented, revealing key risks including XXX, XXX and XXX. Risk management solutions are proposed, including XXX and XXX.  

Paragraph 5: Reflection

As with the implementation chapter, the need for a reflection chapter/section will vary between assignments and universities. If your assignment has this requirement, it’s typically good to cover the following points:

• What were your key learnings? What were your ah-ha moments?
• What has changed in the real world as a consequence of these learnings? I.e. how has your actual behaviour and approach to “X” changed, if any?
• What are the benefits and/or disadvantages of this change, if any?

This section is very personal, and so each person’s reflections will be different. Don’t take the above points as gospel.

Time to test it out.

Once you’ve written up your executive summary and feel confident that it’s in good shape, it’s time to test it out on an unsuspecting intelligent layman. This is a critically important step, since you, as the writer, are simply too close to the work to judge whether it all makes sense to a first-time reader. In fact, you are the least suitable person on the planet!

So, find someone who is not familiar with your assignment topic (and ideally, not familiar with your industry), and ask them to have a read through your executive summary. Friends and family will usually tell you its great, regardless of the quality, so you need to test them on their understanding. Do this by asking them to give the details back to you in their own words. Poke and prod – can they tell you what the key issues and recommendations were (in their own words!). You’ll quickly spot the gaps this way, and be able to flesh out any weak areas.

  Wrapping up.

In this post, I’ve discussed how to write the all too often undercooked executive summary. I’ve discussed some important attributes of a strong executive summary, as well as the contents that typically go into it. To recap on the key points:

The key attributes of a high-impact executive summary:

• It should be able to stand alone.
• It should be written for the intelligent layman.
• It should be concise.
• It should be written last.

The key contents of a high-impact executive summary:

Each paragraph should cover a chapter from the document. For example, In the case of a typical assignment, it would be something like:

• Summary of the introduction chapter.
• Summary of the analysis chapter.
• Summary of the recommendations and/or conclusions chapter.
• Depending – summary of the implementation and reflection.

Lastly, don’t forget to test out your executive summary on an unsuspecting layman or two. This is probably the most important step of them all!

If you have any questions or suggestions, we’d love to hear from you. Please get in touch here or leave a comment below.

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Thanks so much for your methodical process and explanation of Executive Summary. It is exactly what I was researching for.

Regards Saane

It’s a pleasure!

This was really helpful with how to structure my assignment.

Thank you so much for the step by step process. It’s so helpful for beginners like me.

Great! This post is very informative and gives clear guidance on to write an executive summary. Thanks very much for sharing this information, it’s very helpful.

Thanks for the feedback, Anna. Best of luck with your writing 🙂

Thank you for the great article, really helped explain what was needed.

Great insight and tips . Thanks

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The First Impression: Executive Summary In A Research Paper

Having trouble writing the executive summary for your research paper? Learn how to write it in a research paper with our step-by-step guide.

Do you think a scholar has the time to read all the content of your research paper? They will have infinite papers to check, so they definitely won’t read it thoroughly, so how do they know if it is worth reading or not? Now, you must’ve seen short summaries in front of every research paper; ever wondered what that is? 

Well, that is your first impression of the article and as the saying goes, “first impression is always the best impression”, it is important to make sure that the summary is catchy and perfect to grab the scholar’s attention. 

Those types of summaries are known as Executive Summaries and in this article, we are going to learn in-depth about the executive summary in a research paper, along with tips and guidelines for writing them.

What Is An Executive Summary In A Research Paper?

In a research paper, the executive summary serves as a condensed version of the entire paper. It provides a snapshot of the key elements and findings of the research, allowing readers to quickly grasp the purpose, methodology, and main outcomes without having to read the entire document.

Why Do We Compose An Executive Summary?

We compose an executive summary for several important reasons:

1. Decision-Making Support

Executives, stakeholders, or decision-makers rely on executive summaries to make informed decisions. By presenting key information clearly and concisely, an executive summary helps decision-makers understand the essence of the document and evaluate its significance and potential impact.

2. Accessible To A Wide Audience

Executive summaries are shared with diverse audiences, including those without specialized knowledge. By distilling complex information, executive summaries make the content more accessible to a broader range of readers.

3. Overview Of Research Or Project

An executive summary offers a high-level overview of the research or project, outlining objectives, methodology, and main findings. It provides a snapshot of the work, allowing readers to quickly assess its relevance and determine if they need to explore the full document. Also Read: How to Write a Summary of an Article

The Executive Summary Length And Placement

The length and placement of an executive summary can vary depending on specific requirements and guidelines. However, there are some general considerations to keep in mind:

• Length : Executive summaries are typically kept relatively short, ranging from a few paragraphs to a couple of pages. They aim to provide a concise overview of the main points and findings of the document.
• Placement : In most cases, the executive summary is placed at the beginning of the document, before the main body or introduction. This allows readers to quickly access the key information without having to go through the entire document. However, in some cases, it may be placed at the end, serving as a summary or recap of the main points for those who have already read the document.

It’s important to note that the length and placement of the executive summary can be influenced by specific guidelines or requirements set by the organization or publication. 

Structure Of An Executive Summary For A Research Paper

The structure of an executive summary for a research paper can vary slightly depending on the specific requirements and nature of the research. However, a commonly used structure includes the following key elements:

Introduction

Provide a brief introduction that sets the context for the research. Clearly state the purpose, objectives, and significance of the study.

Research Methodology

Summarize the research methodology used in the study. Briefly explain the data collection methods, sample size, research design, and any statistical analyses employed. This helps establish the credibility and reliability of the research.

Key Findings

Present the most significant findings of the research. Summarize the main results, trends, or patterns that emerged from the data analysis. Focus on the key outcomes that directly address the research objectives.

Conclude the executive summary by summarizing the main points and emphasizing the overall significance of the research. Restate the main findings and their implications in a concise manner. Also read our content about Thesis Conclusion: Making Your Research Paper Outstanding .

Executive Summary For A Research Paper Formatting

When formatting an executive summary for a research paper, it’s important to follow the specific guidelines provided by the target journal or publication. General formatting considerations to keep in mind:

• Title : Include a clear and descriptive title for the executive summary at the top of the page. It should reflect the content and focus of the research paper.
• Length : The length of the executive summary can vary, but it is typically recommended to be concise, ranging from a few paragraphs to a maximum of one or two pages. Adhere to any specified word count or page limit guidelines.
• Formatting Style: Follow the formatting style required by the target journal or publication. This may include font type, font size, line spacing, and margins. Typically, a professional and readable font such as Times New Roman or Arial with a standard font size of 12 points is used.
• Structure and Subheadings: Use clear and informative subheadings to structure the content of the executive summary. This helps guide the reader through the main sections, such as Introduction, Methodology, Key Findings, Implications, Recommendations, and Conclusion .
• Concise Writing: Write in a concise and focused manner, using clear and simple language. Avoid unnecessary technical jargon or complex explanations. Use bullet points or numbered lists to present key findings or recommendations, making them easy to read and comprehend.
• Proofreading and Editing: Before finalizing the executive summary, carefully proofread and edit the content for clarity, coherence, and grammatical correctness. Ensure that the summary is free from errors and presents a professional image.

The Executive Summary Mistakes To Avoid

When crafting an executive summary, it’s important to be mindful of certain mistakes that can diminish its effectiveness. Here are common mistakes to avoid:

Lack Of Clarity

Ensure that the executive summary is clear and concise. Avoid using jargon, complex language, or technical terms that may confuse readers. Aim for straightforward and accessible language that can be understood by a diverse audience.

Excessive Length

Remember that an executive summary is meant to be a condensed version of the main document. Avoid making it too long or including unnecessary details. Keep it concise and focused on the most important information.

Lack of Context

Provide sufficient context to help readers understand the research and its significance. Avoid jumping straight into the findings without setting the stage. Briefly explain the background, objectives, and methodology to provide a clear context for the research.

Inconsistent Tone

Maintain a consistent and professional tone throughout the executive summary. Avoid using overly casual language or an inconsistent writing style that may undermine the credibility of the research.

Missing Contact Information

Include relevant contact information, such as names, email addresses, or phone numbers, so that readers can reach out for further inquiries or discussions. This ensures that interested parties can easily connect with the authors.

Executive Summary Writing Tips And Recommendations

When writing an executive summary, consider the following tips and recommendations to ensure its effectiveness:

• Start Strong : Begin the executive summary with a compelling introduction that grabs the reader’s attention. Clearly state the purpose, importance, and relevance of the research to engage the audience from the start.
• Be Succinct: Keep the executive summary concise and to the point. Focus on the most critical information and avoid unnecessary tangents or excessive details. Use clear and concise language to convey the key points effectively.
• Structure with Headings: Organize the executive summary with headings and subheadings to create a logical flow of information. This helps readers navigate the content and locate specific sections quickly.
• Maintain Consistency: Ensure that the executive summary aligns with the main document in terms of key points, language, and style. Avoid introducing new information or contradictory statements that may confuse the reader.
• Use Visuals Sparingly: Incorporate visuals such as charts, graphs, or diagrams if they significantly enhance the understanding of the research. Ensure they are clear, well-labeled, and easy to interpret.
• Seek Feedback: Consider sharing the executive summary with colleagues, mentors, or experts in the field for feedback and suggestions. Incorporate their insights to improve the clarity and effectiveness of the summary.

In conclusion, the executive summary plays a crucial role in research papers by providing a condensed yet comprehensive overview of the study’s main points and findings. It serves as a valuable tool for busy readers, decision-makers, and stakeholders who require a concise understanding of the research without delving into the full document.

Also Read: How to Write an Abstract for a Research Paper (Example and Tips)

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About Sowjanya Pedada

Sowjanya is a passionate writer and an avid reader. She holds MBA in Agribusiness Management and now is working as a content writer. She loves to play with words and hopes to make a difference in the world through her writings. Apart from writing, she is interested in reading fiction novels and doing craftwork. She also loves to travel and explore different cuisines and spend time with her family and friends.

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How to Write an Executive Summary for a Research Paper

6 December 2023

last updated

When people work on organizing their research papers, they need effective guidelines on how to write an executive summary. This article provides insights students should grasp to create high-standard texts, including defining what is an executive summary, its meaning, and its basic structure. About the structure, the guideline teaches students all the sections of an executive summary (introduction, purpose statement, methods, findings, recommendations, limitations, implementation, and conclusion), the contents of each part, and how to write each element. Other insights include 20 tips for producing a high-standard executive summary, including 10 dos and 10 don’ts. Lastly, the article gives a sample outline template for writing a good executive summary and a practical example of this section of a research paper.

How to Write an Outstanding Executive Summary for a Research Paper & Examples

A habit of reading different types of papers is helpful to students’ mental preparation for course assessments but, more importantly, to their intellectual development. Reading various types of essays , reports, and research papers also induces the mental faculties of intellect, reason, imagination, and intuition, which are essential for academic discourse. Indeed, one can tell a writer who reads habitually by how they construct and defend arguments and ideas in their works. Basically, this guideline for writing an effective executive summary includes essential insights into what students should and should not do when writing this type of academic document. The article also defines what is an executive summary and its meaning, outlines its distinctive features, shows how to write each part of this section of a research paper , explains concepts, and gives helpful tips for producing a high-standard document. In turn, this guideline gives a sample outline of a project paper and an example of an executive summary.

Definition of What Is an Executive Summary and Its Meaning

From a simple definition, an executive summary is a text that accounts for the main points of a longer text, mainly a market study report, project report, and business proposal. In this respect, it serves the same purpose as an abstract , the only difference being that it is not used in research papers. Ideally, an abstract is a short and descriptive section of the essential details of a research paper, such as background, methodology, results , and conclusion . In contrast, an executive summary means writing a comprehensive overview of a report, research proposal , or project that explains the main points, including recommendations. Practically, an abstract is between 0.5-1 page, while an executive summary is about 5-10% of the document’s total word count. Since the purpose of an executive summary is to summarize the entire research paper comprehensively, it precedes the introduction of a report, proposal, or business plan.

Distinctive Features of an Executive Summary

An executive summary is identifiable by specific features that distinguish it from other texts, including essays and research papers. Essentially, all scholarly documents require the same level of mental preparation by writers to produce high-quality work. However, students must understand that some papers are demanding because of their contents, which underscore the basic essay outline . The main contents that earmark the distinctive features of an executive summary are an introduction, a purpose statement, methods, findings, recommendations, limitations, an implementation plan, and a conclusion.

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1️⃣ Introduction

The introduction of an executive summary highlights the document’s topic, which emphasizes the type of paper it is, such as a business proposal, project report, or market research report. In this respect, it must be short and precise. Because the focus is the topic, one should use a bridge sentence or short paragraph for the introduction.

2️⃣ Purpose Statement

The purpose statement of an executive summary communicates the document’s primary objective. In this respect, it provides a brief background of the topic to enhance the reader’s understanding of the essence of the document. The language in this part reflects an expected end, while common terms include ‘aim,’ ‘goal,’ ‘purpose,’ or ‘objective.’

3️⃣ Methods

In an executive summary, methods outline the writer’s approach to achieving the primary objective, such as examining official data, conducting a field study, reviewing the literature, or interviewing stakeholders. Students need to understand that this component differs from the research methodology of research papers. In this respect, it does not detail the methods one has used to complete the work. In essence, it outlines the strategies that help writers to better understand critical issues, such as challenges to a sector, stakeholder sentiments, industry insights, or potential barriers.

4️⃣ Findings

Findings in an executive summary are the outcomes of the methods, meaning it is what the writer has discovered about an issue, such as an industry, stakeholders, or a project. This component is crucial to readers because it offers a sneak peek into the outcomes that underscore the primary purpose of the entire document: project report, market research report, or business proposal.

5️⃣ Recommendations

Recommendations in an executive summary underscore the writer’s perspective regarding the issues that a research paper addresses as a challenge or problem. For example, if the paper is a report about healthcare status, the challenges or problems it identifies may be nursing shortages or medical errors. The recommendations should highlight what stakeholders, like the government and health institutions, must do to overcome these challenges or problems. In other words, the recommendations address what must be done to rectify a situation or make it possible to achieve specific outcomes.

6️⃣ Limitations

Like a research paper, an executive summary must point out the limitations that the document’s author encountered in reporting about a project or business plan. For example, these limitations may include a lack of goodwill among stakeholders, sufficient time to investigate a matter, or resources to execute the task. This information is essential to the audience because it indicates the dynamics influencing the primary objective.

7️⃣ Implementation Plan

The implementation plan is the component in an executive summary that provides a framework for adopting and implementing the recommendations. Typically, this information includes claims and activities, people responsible, the timeframe, and budget allocation. Sometimes, an evaluation plan is also part of the implementation plan.

8️⃣ Conclusion

The conclusion part of an executive summary is a call to action about the project report, market research report, or business proposal. Unlike conclusion examples in other academic papers and essays that summarize the paper’s main points, the conclusion of an executive summary gives a direction about the document. Essentially, writers use this component to call to action the audience to adopt the recommendations or compel stakeholders to adopt a particular perspective. In turn, it persuades the audience to adopt a particular stance regarding the report or proposal.

The Length of an Executive Summary

Students should know the length of each of the above sections, except the introduction and conclusion parts, depending on the document’s total length, which determines the word count of an executive summary. For example, a long and robust project report or business proposal requires a long executive summary with an extended purpose statement, methods, findings, recommendations, limitations, and implementation, which means the length of 4-10 double spaced pages, or 2-5 single spaced pages, or 1000–2500 words, depending on the volume of the work. Typically, the introduction and conclusion sections take a statement or short paragraph of 0.5-1 double spaced page or 125-250 words, irrespective of a research paper or executive summary’s length. However, if a research paper is a long work of more than 10 double spaced pages, 5 single spaced page, or 2500 words, the introduction and conclusion parts should not exceed 5-10% of the whole word count. Besides, the body section of an executive summary must take 80-90% of the total word count of a research paper, not less. The word count of a title page, a table of contents , an abstract, a reference page, and appendix is not considered since these parts are technical and do not mean writing itself.

How to Write Each Section of an Executive Summary for a Research Paper

Writing an executive summary requires students to demonstrate an understanding of its purpose. This understanding means students should know when to write it, what to talk about, and how to write each of the sections above. Therefore, writing an executive summary is essential to approach carefully and with the utmost focus.

1️⃣ Writing an Executive Summary as a Last Action

Because an executive summary overviews the entire research paper, students should write this part after finishing their market research reports, project reports, or business proposals. However, one should read and reread the whole research paper to know the most significant points forming part of the summary. By writing an executive summary as a last item, one can have a mental picture of what to address to give the audience a comprehensive sneak peek into a research paper document.

2️⃣ Making Notes of Important Aspects

While reading and rereading a research paper, students should take notes of the most critical aspects of their work that must appear in an executive summary. These aspects must address each section above. Moreover, one should identify crucial information in an introduction, a purpose statement, methods, findings, recommendations, limitations, an implementation plan, and a conclusion.

A. Writing an Introduction Part of an Executive Summary

When writing a college essay introduction , students must refrain from going into details about the purpose of the text because they will have an opportunity to do so later. While one may mention the document’s background, one should make it concise to contextualize the topic. The most crucial detail is that the introduction part of an executive summary should be a sentence or brief paragraph.

B. Writing a Purpose Statement Part of an Executive Summary

When writing the research paper’s purpose, students should communicate the type of document, such as a business proposal, a market research report, or a project report. The next thing is to state the background; provide the reason for writing, like sourcing funds; recommend solutions; or report progress and challenges. However, one should avoid going into detail because they will do so later in an executive summary of a research paper.

C. Writing a Methods Part of an Executive Summary

When writing a methods section, one should focus on giving the audience a sense of the strategy that helps achieve the outcomes. However, writers should approach this part differently than the methodology section of a research paper. Instead, they should mention what they did to execute the work, such as interviewing stakeholders or analyzing official data. The best way to approach this section is to list everything one did to make a research paper.

D. Writing a Findings Part of an Executive Summary

Since the purpose of the findings section in a research paper is to narrate outcomes, students should write it in the past tense. Therefore, when writing this section of an executive summary, authors should see themselves as reporters educating the audience about what they have learned in executing the task. An essential detail students should note when writing the section is to refer to credible sources of information that lead to the findings. These reliable sources can be documents, organizations, individuals in leadership, or industry experts.

E. Writing a Recommendations Part of an Executive Summary

When writing a recommendations section in an executive summary for a research paper, students should focus on giving a clear summary of what should happen after the findings. Essentially, one should address the key decision-makers or stakeholders because they are responsible for creating change through policy. The best approach to writing recommendations is to interrogate each challenge or problem and related findings to understand what must happen to create positive outcomes.

F. Writing a Limitations Part of an Executive Summary

The best approach to writing a limitations section in an executive summary for a research paper is to interrogate the challenges one has faced in the project, such as a lack of goodwill among stakeholders or sufficient time, resources, or support. Ideally, writers aim to inform the audience of the factors that have complicated their work or may complicate the implementation of the recommendations.

G. Writing an Implementation Plan Part of an Executive Summary

When writing an implementation plan in an executive summary, students should focus on telling the audience the procedure for actualizing the recommendations. In this respect, the best approach to writing this section is to interrogate the recommendations to determine what must happen to actualize each. For example, some issues to consider may include people in charge of implementation, such as an organization’s human resource director, the time it would take to actualize (timeline), the budget, and how to measure success (evaluation).

H. Writing a Conclusion Part of an Executive Summary

When writing a conclusion part, students should aim to persuade the audience to adopt a particular stance regarding a research paper or proposal. Although one might reiterate the topic, it is not necessary to mention each of the preceding sections. Instead, writers should focus on sending a strong communication regarding it. The best approach to writing the conclusion section is to influence the audience’s perspective on the topic and the recommendations and implementation.

3️⃣ Explaining Acronyms, Abbreviations, and Key Terms

Since an executive summary is an overview of a market research paper, project report, or business plan, authors should write it clearly and precisely. The best approach is to use simple language and define all acronyms, abbreviations, and key terms. In turn, students should not assume that readers know what each acronym, abbreviation, and key term means when they read research papers.

4️⃣ Proofreading, Revising, and Editing an Executive Summary Section of a Research Paper

After completing writing a research paper, students should proofread it to identify grammatical and formatting mistakes and inconsistent arguments and ideas. For example, the best way to fix these mistakes and flaws is to revise the whole research paper by fixing mistakes, like missing punctuation and wrong citations, and editing it by adding or deleting words and sentences to create a logical order of thoughts and ideas. In turn, writers must be factual, not use word count fillers, and avoid unnecessary repetitions. Besides, students should know that the audience is not interested in stories but in factual communication that makes logical sense.

Sample Paper Template for Writing a Good Executive Summary

Like essays, executive summaries have a specific structure students should demonstrate in their writing. The sections above underscore this outline template, meaning students should know what each section of writing an executive summary for a research paper entails and how to write it. The best way to write a high-quality executive summary is to create a template and populate it with ideas for a project, a business plan, a proposal, or a report. This preparation helps writers to have a mental picture of the kind of document they want to have and the right attitude when writing.

I. Introduction: [Introduce the topic and state the kind of document, such as a market research paper, project report, or business plan].

II. Purpose Statement: [Explain the primary objective of a research paper, such as investigating a problem, souring some funds, or reporting its progress].

III. Methods: [Enumerate how the task is accomplished, such as examining official data, interviewing stakeholders, or reviewing the literature].

IV. Findings: [Provide the outcomes of the methods, such as what official data reveals, stakeholders’ sentiments, or what research says].

V. Recommendations: [State clearly what stakeholders or key decisions must do to address the challenges or problems that the findings reveal].

VI. Limitations: [Discuss the challenges or problems that were encountered in completing the task, such as poor time management, a lack of support, or absent goodwill by stakeholders].

VII. Implementation Plan: [Include what stakeholders or key decision-makers must do to actualize the recommendations, such as identifying a person responsible and establishing a budget and timeline].

VIII. Conclusion: [Persuade the audience to adopt the recommendations and work toward creating change by facilitating an implementation plan].

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Example of an Executive Summary for an 8000-Word Research Paper

Topic: A Need for Proactive Climate Change Initiatives

I. Example of an Introduction Section in an Executive Summary

Stakeholders in the climate change discourse must shift focus from discourse to practical, proactive measures to demonstrate seriousness in tackling the biggest threat of the millennium.

II. Example of a Purpose Statement Section in an Executive Summary

The purpose of writing this executive study is to examine the status of the climate change discourse, interrogate dynamics that make it unpromising as a practical solution to the crisis, and recommend what stakeholders must do to restore hope to millions globally who are afraid that climate change poses the biggest threat to the existence of current and future generations.

III. Example of a Methods Section in an Executive Summary

An executive report employs several data-gathering methods to achieve these objectives, including examining the climate change discourse over the decades to identify key themes: environmental policies, greenhouse gases, industrial pollution, natural disasters, weather forecasts, and others. Another method is interrogating research and official data on climate change by government agencies in the last three decades. The report also considers interviews with environmentalists, social justice advocates, government officials, and leaders of organizations that dedicate their mission to creating awareness about the need for environmental conservation and preservation.

IV. Example of a Findings Section in an Executive Summary

Overall, the methods above reveal worrying findings about the climate change discourse:

• Human activities, including industries and deforestation, have increased global warming to 1.1 degrees C, triggering unprecedented changes to the Earth’s climate. The lack of consensus on reversing human-induced global warming among the most industrialized countries suggests that the trend will worsen in the coming decades.
• The impacts of climate change are evident on people and ecosystems. Without urgent practical interventions, these impacts will become more widespread and severe with every additional degree of global warming.
• Developing and implementing adaptation measures in communities can effectively build and foster the resilience of people and ecosystems. However, stakeholders must interrogate their climate change funding priorities for effective proactive interventions.
• Communities will continue recording climate-induced losses and damages as long as communities cannot adapt to some impacts of this global problem. An example is 1.1 degrees C of global warming.
• Projections indicate global greenhouse gas (GHC) emissions will peak at 1.5 degrees C before 2025 in selected at-risk pathways.
• Burning fossil fuels remains the leading cause of the global climate crisis.
• Carbon removal is the most effective and practical solution to limiting global warming from peaking at 1.5 degrees C.
• There is a lack of commitment by key stakeholders to finance climate change mitigation and adaptation.
• Climate change and the collective efforts to mitigate and adapt to its impacts will exacerbate global inequity if stakeholders do not prioritize just transition.

These findings of a research paper confirm that the climate change discourse is alive to the threat the global problem poses to people and ecosystems and the weaknesses in the current interventions.

V. Example of a Recommendations Section in an Executive Summary

This executive report recommends that key stakeholders, including governments, communities, policy experts, and financiers, must adopt to prioritize practical solutions to the global climate crisis.

• Stakeholders must target a net-zero climate-resilient future through urgent, systemwide transformations.
• Adopt policies that enhance access to fresh produce by establishing a relationship between farmers and consumers.
• Improve awareness about the critical benefits of organic foods.
• Consider policies that promote regenerative farm practices to eliminate toxins and revitalize soils.
• Create infrastructures for transforming waste into compost manure for farm use.
• Develop policies that encourage communities to embrace a green neighborhood.

VI. Example of a Limitations Section in an Executive Summary

This executive report recognizes several limitations that have made the fight against climate change unproductive and threaten current and future endeavors to arrest the crisis. For example, stakeholders need to note that these limitations may undermine the implementation of the recommendations in this report. One limitation is a lack of goodwill among key stakeholders. The four leading industrial powers, namely the United States, China, India, and Brazil, contribute to significant global atmospheric temperature increases. Traditionally, these countries have refused to agree on how to cut back on industries primarily because they are the main drivers of their economies. Another limitation is the mis-prioritization of financing, where much focus is on theoretical interventions, such as agreements and seminars, at the expense of practical solutions like building infrastructures for transforming waste into usable products. While stakeholders agree on the essence of the 3R (reuse, reduce, and recycle) framework, there is little practical implementation at the community level.

VII. Example of an Implementation Plan Section in an Executive Summary

The implementation plan for the recommendations above recognizes government agencies as the most suitable implementers because official bodies are the key stakeholders who finance climate change initiatives. The business plan considers that, to shift the climate change fight from mere discourse to practical evidence, stakeholders must prioritize the following:

• A budget of at least $50 million annually at the country level;
• A period of between 2-5 years; and
• Periodic evaluation of progress through at least one annual seminar or conference.

VIII. Example of a Conclusion Section in an Executive Summary

This executive research paper calls on all stakeholders in the climate change discourse to reconsider the current focus by recognizing its failure to create meaningful change as evidence shows the crisis continues to worsen. Instead, they should focus on practical, proactive interventions focusing on communities because that is where much environmental damage happens. It is also where the adversities of the crisis manifest most powerfully.

4 Easy Steps for Writing an Executive Summary

Writing an executive summary is a technical undertaking requiring writers to consider each section’s basic structure and essential details. When writing a research paper, one must know when to write each section and what to say. In this respect, preparation, stage setup, writing a first draft of an executive section, and wrap-up are essential steps students should follow to produce a research paper document that meets quality standards.

Step 1: Preparation

As the first step in writing an executive summary, preparation helps writers to develop a proper mindset that involves knowing the basic structure and what to write in each section of a research paper. Therefore, the critical task for students in this stage is constructing the basic structure and stating what must happen in each section.

Step 2: Stage Setup

Setting up the stage is the second step in writing an executive summary. It involves reading and rereading the document to identify critical details to address in each section of the basic structure. The best approach to achieve this outcome is to make notes of the most vital data when reading a research paper.

Step 3: Writing a First Draft of an Executive Summary

The third step is to create a first draft of an executive summary by putting all the critical data into relevant sections. Ideally, people must start with a clear introduction where they point out the focal point of a research paper and then move to a study’s purpose statement, methods, findings, recommendations, limitations, implementation plan, and conclusion. Each research section must summarize and not explain the most critical data.

Step 4: Wrap-Up

Wrapping a first draft into a final version of a research paper is the last step in writing an executive summary. This stage involves proofreading, revising, and editing a first version of an executive summary to eliminate grammar mistakes and inconsistent statements. As a result, authors must perfect their executive summaries of research papers by fixing errors and flaws that affect the logical progression of ideas and thoughts and the overall quality of the text.

20 Tips for Writing an Effective Executive Summary

Writing an executive summary can be demanding, particularly for students who do not prepare well or do not know what is most important. The following tips can be helpful: begin an executive summary by explaining why the topic is important; state the purpose of a research paper by outlining the problem and why it is essential or relevant to the audience; explain the methods that help to execute the task; state the findings; enumerate the limitations by addressing dynamics that undermine the implementation of solutions; consider the recommendations and list them using numbers or bullet points; outline an implementation plan that identifies the person or entity that oversee the implementation, the budget allocation, and how to evaluate progress; and write a conclusion that persuades the audience to adopt a particular perspective about the topic. In turn, 10 dos and 10 don’ts that writers should consider when writing their executive summaries in their research papers are:

10 things to do when writing an executive summary include:

• reading a research paper thoroughly to identify the primary objective, methods for collecting data, key findings, recommendations, significant limitations, and an implementation strategy;
• considering the audience of an executive summary to determine whether to use simple or technical language;
• writing formally and avoiding jargon;
• outlining the structure that considers all the main sections (introduction, purpose statement, methods, key findings, recommendations, limitations, implementation, and conclusion);
• organizing an executive summary in a summary format;
• using a short, clear, precise, and captivating opening statement to hook readers;
• including each section to state the most critical details;
• focusing on summarizing a research paper rather than explaining its contents;
• reviewing a research paper for incorrect information;
• proofreading, revising, and editing an executive summary to eliminate all mistakes.

10 things not to do when writing an executive summary include:

• using jargon to simplify complex terms and phrases;
• explaining rather than summarizing a research paper;
• creating too many grammar mistakes, such as missing punctuation and confusing words with a similar pronunciation;
• ignoring the basic outline of an executive summary;
• writing a lengthy introduction;
• concentrating on some sections more than others;
• explaining ideas or concepts not discussed in the main research paper;
• providing a very short or long summary that does not align with the document’s total word count;
• beginning an executive summary with anecdote or irrelevant information;
• placing an executive summary at the end of a research paper.

Summing Up on How to Write a Perfect Executive Summary

• Tell an interesting story. Writers should approach an executive summary as a platform for inducing the reader’s interest in reading a research paper. As such, one should use each section to tell what is most crucial to the audience.
• Highlight critical data. Writers should focus on what is most critical in each section of an executive summary, emphasizing statistical data because it is visually captivating.
• Maintain a formal tone from beginning to end. Writers should avoid using jargon to simplify complex concepts or terminologies.
• Write an executive summary after completing an actual research paper. Writing an executive summary as the last element of a research paper helps one to approach this paper as a final summary of the main points. In turn, the mistake of starting an executive summary before writing an actual research paper is that authors can write about details they fail to address in the final version of a document.

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Executive Summary

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Paper Format

A typical Executive Summary gives a complete overview of the entire report. It should state the subject matter of the report, and it should explain the methods used to gather data. In explaining the methods, indicate what kinds of primary and secondary research were used in the paper. An Executive Summary usually also includes a brief statement of the paper's findings and conclusions. It may also include recommendations based on the findings and limitations of the research.

The Executive Summary should be written in the present tense, except when discussing the methods used and findings, which should be in the past tense.

The Executive Summary should be placed

on a separate page and

immediately after the Table of Contents and before the body.

The title of your Executive summary should be centered and bold using a level 1 heading.

The format of the Executive Summary should

have double spaced lines and

be usually no longer than one page.

Remember to check with your instructor for any specific requirements for a particular assignment.

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How to write an executive summary people will read

Executive summaries remind me of phrases like “actionable insights.” These buzzwords are vague enough to know they are essential, but it is impossible to determine what they mean. For years, I heard about how critical it is to include executive summaries in research presentations. They give the reader the ability to understand the report quickly and get the most important information at a glance. 

Since I come from academia, I likened the executive summary to an abstract. An abstract summarizes the larger research paper by highlighting the significant points and reasons behind the research. I struggled with this concise roundup of my work in my previous academic papers. And I fought just as much with writing executive summaries. I agonized, trying to find examples online (which are few and far between), and eventually forced myself to write something I knew wasn’t an accurate executive summary. 

After much trial and error, I decided to end my misery. I dreaded writing reports, made worse by the anxiety-inducing executive summary slide, which I would stare at for hours. How should I pick the most crucial information from all my findings? And how do I distill the entire study into a few headers and bullet points? Eventually, the lightbulb clicked. I began to ask stakeholders to give me feedback on these summaries, asking them what they thought, what was missing, or what was too much information. I A/B tested different formats, gathering more feedback and honing, until I landed on something that seemed to work across organizations. 

It just goes to show you, when in doubt, do some research!

The ingredients of a successful executive summary

An executive summary shows readers the findings or insights they need to know if they just read one slide. Now, this isn’t the best principle. We want people to read our full reports because we can’t possibly encapsulate all of the data into an executive summary. However, no matter how hard we try, some people won’t read entire reports, so we still have to find ways to get the most important information across.

This summary enables teams to see the most impactful details from a particular study. If someone were to read the slide, they should be able to take something away to help them make decisions. As user researchers, we must learn how to be concise. The executive summary gives us the chance to surface the most critical information teams need to know from a given project. 

I’ve seen executive summaries that span several pages. I have even seen one that was ten slides long. As I mentioned, the purpose of an executive summary is to highlight the essential information as efficiently as possible. Typically, this means one page, at the absolute most, two pages. But I would say, always strive for one page.

Within this one page, my structure for an executive summary highlights the top three to five findings or insights in my study. In general, I will cover:

One surprising finding/insight 

One to two things that went badly

If space, an additional finding/insight

While this structure is helpful, it is the frustratingly vague type of structure I referenced when trying to write these summaries. How do you know which is the most positive insight? Or what went poorly? Or what information to include and what to talk about later. Let’s dive deeper.

Questions to ask yourself

At first, I went about writing executive summaries without much direction. I wasn’t sure how to find the correct information to put into this synopsis of my study. Over time, I developed a list of questions I would ask myself to pull out the most valuable information from the rest. Here are the questions I ask myself when creating an executive summary:

Surprising finding:

Which of our assumptions or hypotheses were validated?

What were we risking, and how did that risk play out well?

What information could have a considerable positive impact on users?

What is something that changed the way we think about users?

What is something new we discovered that we didn’t know before?

Negative findings:

What issues did we uncover?

Which of our hypotheses or assumptions were invalidated?

What information has a considerable negative impact on users?

What information makes us question the direction we are going?

Other findings:

What happened that was completely unexpected?

What information could help a team make a better decision moving forward?

My executive summaries all look pretty much the same. Through keeping this consistency, it makes it easier for me to write the summary. I use the following structure and template for each insight:

A header that is a few words long

A concise one to two sentences of what you learned

An example that demonstrates what you learned, such as a quote

The consequence of what you learned

If relevant or possible, a small recommendation

Putting it together

As I mentioned, this is easier said than done. It takes some practice writing executive summaries before you become more confident and comfortable. When I was learning this skill, I felt I lacked a concrete example. So, let’s dive into one to demonstrate the ingredients and structure of an executive summary. 

In this example project, we were trying to understand how different groups of people plan travel. We looked at student travelers (e.g., students traveling home) and business travelers (e.g., business trips) and how they make decisions to travel. 

Executive summary

Insight one : Cheaper prices are not the only deciding factor

Although lower prices are enticing for students and business travelers, they are not the only factors at play. Instead, these travelers weigh and balance a triangle of information: price, comfort (duration, number of changeovers), and trust in the booking platform.

“Yes, cheap tickets are great, but I am not going to take an eleven-hour trip with three changeovers to get to a place I know is two or three hours away if I pay a bit more. Plus, these third-party websites selling tickets always ask for more money.”

By surfacing the cheapest tickets first and assuming this is the trigger for purchase, we are not giving users the best results for their search, considering their decision-making process. We may be losing trust and revenue through this experience. 

Recommendation: Include trips that may be more expensive, but get the user to their destination more quickly (still within a suitable price range). Also, ensure all charges are transparent for the user.

Insight two: Flexibility in dates leads to multiple searches

These travelers can be relatively flexible with their traveling dates, which gives them the space to search within a date range to find the best trip. However, this concludes in many different searches and comparing prices/trips across multiple tabs, frustrating the user. 

“I wanted to see if it was cheaper to take the train on a Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, and it just got so complicated to do and compare all of these searches—it was frustrating.” 

By forcing our users to compare different date possibilities across tabs, we put them in a difficult situation. They may go to another product or competitor that makes this experience easier for them. Ultimately, this could end in us losing revenue and retention. 

Recommendation: Allow users to search with flexible calendar dates within one search to compare their different options on one screen easily.

Insight three: Lack of trust when booking through a third-party

Although it is easy for travelers to see all options when looking up travel on a third-party website, there is an inherent lack of trust. Extra fees, lost luggage, and lack of customer support have burned many travelers when they’ve booked through a third-party website.

“As much as I want to trust these websites, I can’t. Once I bought a ticket through a website, they canceled my seat last minute, didn’t offer me a refund, and the flight provider couldn’t do anything about it. It just makes me not trust all the smoke and mirrors. Plus, I end up paying so much in fees that I should go directly to the provider.”

With the lack of trust in third-party websites, there are times we are a search engine rather than a booking platform. They use our website to compare travel options and then go directly to the provider to purchase tickets. With this process, we end up losing money and customers. 

One last note

Take the time to practice these executive summaries. It took me a while to get to the stage where I could pinpoint the vital information and distill it into one concise slide. Start by asking yourself those questions about your study, do a brain dump, and then work your way down to the top three to five insights. It is well worth it when your research becomes more digestible and read by people who don’t have enough time to take on the full report!

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OASIS: Writing Center

Common assignments: executive summaries, basics of executive summaries.

Executive summaries are common in the Walden MBA program, but they are also found as part of some government and business documents. As a student, you should complete an executive summary when specifically requested to do so. An executive summary is a comprehensive review of a larger document. For example, a 35-page report may begin with a single-page executive summary all of the main information in the longer report. Any findings, conclusions, recommendations, or other details that appear in the larger document must be touched on in the executive summary. Readers should be able to read the executive summary alone and have a complete understanding of the larger document in its entirety.

How to Write an Executive Summary

It is important to meet all length and content expectations, so be sure to review the specific directions for your assignment. Also remember that the executive summary can only be written after the full-length document is complete.

Tips for completing the executive summary from Walden University (2013) include:

• List all of the main points in the same order in which they occur in the paper that you are summarizing.
• Take each point and turn it into a sentence.
• Add additional sentences to clarify or explain each point.
• Add a short introduction and a short conclusion. Include the name of the article, report, etc. and the author(s) in the introduction.
• Check grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
• Check for plagiarism.
• Read the summary slowly and carefully to make sure it covers all of the main points clearly, yet concisely. Also, check to be sure it is interesting. You want to catch your reader’s attention.
• Set it aside. Let some time pass and read it again. Often, you will catch items that you did not see the first time.

For academic writing, be sure to include appropriate citations and a reference. This is typically not part of a business executive summary but should be included for purposes of this program.

Walden University. (2013). How to write an executive summary [Course handout]. https://class.waldenu.edu

Executive Summary Versus Abstract

Like an executive summary, an abstract is a short summary of a larger text. Both executive summaries and abstracts are meant to capture the main ideas, findings, and conclusions of a longer document.  Executive summaries, however, tend to include more details than abstracts. An abstract includes enough information for readers to decide if they want to read the full-length document. Executive summaries must include enough information for readers to understand the full-length document without reading it.

Another difference between executive summaries and abstracts are the fields where they are used. Generally, executive summaries are common in business and government, while abstracts are more common in academia and at Walden, especially when seeking publication in a professional journal.

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Business General Guide (UNH Manchester): Writing Executive Summaries

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• 01 Search Strategies
• 02 Databases to Search
• 03 How to Get an Article
• Evaluating Websites
• Writing Executive Summaries
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Executive Summaries

" T he executive summary is usually no longer than 10% of the original document. It can be anywhere from 1-10 pages long, depending on the report's length. Executive summaries are written literally for an executive who most likely DOES NOT have the time to read the original.

• Executive summaries make a recommendation
• Accuracy is essential because decisions will be made based on your summary by people who have not read the original
• Executive summaries frequently summarize more than one document"

--Colorado State University: Writing @ CSU

Executive Summary Tips

• Writing an Executive Summary (University of Arizona Global Campus)
• Executive Summaries (Texas A & M)
• How to Write an Executive Summary (Inc.)
• Writing Guide: Executive Summaries (Colorado State University)
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Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

The Report Abstract and Executive Summary

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

This resource is an updated version of Muriel Harris’s handbook Report Formats: a Self-instruction Module on Writing Skills for Engineers , written in 1981. The primary resources for the editing process were Paul Anderson’s Technical Communication: A Reader-Centered Approach (6th ed.) and the existing OWL PowerPoint presentation, HATS: A Design Procedure for Routine Business Documents.

The Abstract

The abstract is a crucial part of your report as it may be the only section read by people at the executive or managerial level who must make decisions based on what they read in your abstract. When you include specific content, it is important to remember these readers are looking for the information they need to make decisions.

The abstract is an overview that provides the reader with the main points and results, though it is not merely a listing of what the report contains. It is a summary of the essence of a report. For this reason, it should be crafted to present the most complete and compelling information possible. It is not a detective story building suspense as the reader hunts for clues, and should not be vague or obtuse in its content.

The abstract should include

• Why the work was done (the basic problem), the specific purpose or objective, and the scope of the work if that is relevant. (College lab reports may not require this part of the abstract.)
• How the work was done, the test methods or means of investigation
• What was found—the results, conclusions, and recommendations

The abstract should

• Not make references to material in the text
• Not lose the message by burying the methods, results, conclusions, and recommendations in a sea of words
• Not be written before the rest of the report

Therefore, a good abstract is

• Self-sufficient

Evaluating abstracts

Because the abstract is of major importance in a report, a summary of effective qualities of abstracts is offered here.

A well-written abstract

• Considers the readers it will encounter
• States what was done and what results were found
• Avoids vagueness by stating specific results
• Uses past tense to report what was done
• Is informative
• Is self-sufficient and does not refer to the body of the report
• Makes concrete, useful recommendations

Below are two abstracts. The first one, (A), was written by a student for a lab report, and the other one (B) was a revision written by someone with more experience in writing abstracts. Read both versions and try to figure out why the changes were made in B.

We studied the flow characteristics of meters, valves, and pipes that constitute a flow network. The meter coefficients for orifice and venture meters were determined. The orifice and venture coefficients were, on the average, 0.493 and 0.598, respectively. Fanning friction factors for pipes of different sizes and for gate and globe valves were also determined.

The accuracy with which the meter coefficients and friction factors were determined was affected by leaks in the piping network. In addition, air bubbles trapped in the pipes and manometers affected the accuracy with which pressure drops were measured. Hence, it is recommended that the piping system be checked to ensure the absence of any leaks. Furthermore, the fluid should be allowed to flow in the network for some time before taking any measurements, in order to get rid of the air trapped in the pipes and manometer.

In an orifice and a venturimeter in a flow network, we measured the meter coefficients to be 0.5 0.1 and 0.6 0.15. We measured the Fanning friction factors at steady state for several pipes and for gate and globe valves. The most important source of error was a leak in the piping network which has to be repaired in order to obtain more precise results.

The Executive Summary

The government and some companies have begun to request executive summaries at the beginning of a long report. An executive summary is a one-page statement of the problem, the purpose of the communication, and a summary of the results, conclusions, and recommendations. The same considerations of readers and situation should guide your executive summaries.

Organizing Academic Research Papers: Executive Summary

• Purpose of Guide
• Design Flaws to Avoid
• Glossary of Research Terms
• Narrowing a Topic Idea
• Broadening a Topic Idea
• Extending the Timeliness of a Topic Idea
• Academic Writing Style
• Choosing a Title
• Making an Outline
• Paragraph Development
• Executive Summary
• Background Information
• The Research Problem/Question
• Theoretical Framework
• Citation Tracking
• Content Alert Services
• Evaluating Sources
• Primary Sources
• Secondary Sources
• Tertiary Sources
• What Is Scholarly vs. Popular?
• Qualitative Methods
• Quantitative Methods
• Using Non-Textual Elements
• Limitations of the Study
• Common Grammar Mistakes
• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Footnotes or Endnotes?
• Further Readings
• Annotated Bibliography
• Dealing with Nervousness
• Using Visual Aids
• Grading Someone Else's Paper
• How to Manage Group Projects
• Multiple Book Review Essay
• Reviewing Collected Essays
• About Informed Consent
• Writing Field Notes
• Writing a Policy Memo
• Writing a Research Proposal
• Acknowledgements

An executive summary is an overview of a research report or other type of document that summarizes key points for its readers, saving them time and preparing them for the upcoming content. It must be a separate, stand-alone document, with sufficient content to ensure that the reader can completely understand the contents of the longer research study. An executive summary can be anywhere from 1-10 pages long, depending on the research report's length and may summarize more than one document [e.g., papers submitted for a group project].

Importance of a Good Executive Summary

Although an executive summary is similar to an abstract in that they both summarize the contents of a research study, there are several key differences. With research abstracts, the author's recommendations are rarely included, or if they are, they are implicit rather than explicit. Recommendations are generally not stated in academic abstracts because scholars operate in a discursive environment, where debates, discussions and dialogue are meant to precede the implementation of any new research findings. The conceptual nature of much academic writing also means that recommendations arising from the findings are widespread and not easily or usefully encapsulated. Executive summaries are used mainly when a research study has been developed for an organizational partner, funding entity, or other external group that participated in the research . In such cases, the research report and executive summary are often written for policy makers outside of academe, while abstracts are written for the academic community. Professors, therefore, assign the writing of executive summaries so students can practice writing about and summarizing comprehensive research studies for external stakeholder groups.

When preparing to write, keep in mind that:

• An executive summary is not an abstract.
• An executive summary is not an introduction.
• An executive summary is not a preface.
• An executive summary is not a random collection of highlights.

Christensen, Jay. Executive Summaries Complete The Report. California State University Northridge.

Structure and Writing Style

I.  Writing an Executive Summary

Read the Entire Document This may go without saying, but it is critically important that you read your entire research study thoroughly from start to finish before beginning to write the executive summary. This will better prepare you for how to organize and summarize the key points of your study. Remember this is not a brief abstract of 300 words or less but, essentially, a mini-paper of your paper, with a focus on recommendations.

Isolate the Major Points Within the Original Document Choose which parts of the document are the most important to those who will read it. These points must be included within the executive summary in order to provide a thorough and complete explanation of what the document is trying to convey.

Separate the Main Sections Closely examine each section of the original document and discern the main differences in each. After you have a firm understanding about what each section offers in respect to the other sections, write a few sentences for each section describing the main ideas. Although the format may vary, the main sections of an executive summary likely will include the following:

• the opening statement, brief background information,
• the purpose of research study,
• the method of data gathering and analysis,
• an overview of findings, and,
• a description of each recommendation, accompanied by a justification. Note that the recommendations are sometimes quoted verbatim from the research study.

Combine the Information Use the information gathered to combine them into an executive summary that is no longer than 10% of the original document. Be concise! The purpose is to provide a brief explanation of the entire document with a focus on the recommendations that have emerged from your research. How you word this will likely differ depending on your audience and what they care most about. If necessary, selectively incorporate bullet points for emphasis and brevity. Re-read the Executive Summary After you've completed your executive summary, let it sit for a while before coming back to re-read it. Check to make sure that the summary will make sense as a separate document from the full research study. By taking some time before re-reading it, you allow yourself to see the summary with unbiased eyes.

II.  Common Mistakes to Avoid

Length of the Executive Summary As a general rule, the correct length of an executive summary is that it meets the criteria of no more pages than 10% of the number of pages in the original document, with an upper limit of ten pages. This requirement keeps the document short enough to be read by your audience, but long enough to allow it to be a complete, stand-alone document. Cutting and Pasting With the exception of specific recommendations made in the study, do not simply cut and paste whole sections of the original document into the executive summary. You should paraphrase information from the longer document. Avoid taking up space with excessive subtitles and lists, unless they are absolutely necessary for the reader to have a complete understanding of the original document. Consider the Audience Although unlikely to be required by your professor, there is the possibility that more than one executive summary will have to be written for a given document [e.g., one for policy-makers, one for private industry]. This may only necessitate the rewriting of the conclusion, but it may require rewriting the entire summary in order to fit the needs of the reader. If necessary, be sure to consider the types of audiences who may benefit from your study and make adjustments accordingly. Clarity in Writing One of the biggest mistakes you can make is related to the clarity of your executive summary. Always note that your audience [or audiences] are likely seeing your research study for the first time. The best way to avoid a disorganized or cluttered executive summary is to write it after the study is completed. Always follow the same strategies for proofreading that you would for any research paper. Use Strong and Positive Language Don’t weaken your executive summary with passive, imprecise language. The executive summary is a stand-alone document intended to convince the reader to make a decision concerning whether to implement the recommendations you make. Once convinced, it is assumed that the full document will provide the details needed to implement the recommendations. Although you should resist the tempation to pad your summary with pleas or biased statements, do pay particular attention to ensuring that a sense of urgency is created in the implications, recommendations, and conclusions presented in the executive summary. Be sure to target readers who are likely to implement the recommendations.

Christensen, Jay. Executive Summaries Complete The Report. California State University Northridge; Executive Summaries . Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Executive Summary. University Writing Center. Texas A&M University; Guidelines for Writing an Executive Summary. Astia.org; Markowitz, Eric. How to Write an Executive Summary . Inc. Magazine, September, 15, 2010; Kawaski, Guy. The Art of the Executive Summary. "How to Change the World" blog; The Report Abstract and Executive Summary . The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Writing Executive Summaries. Effective Writing Center. University of Maryland.

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Research Paper Executive Summary Template

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In the fast-paced world of research, it's crucial to communicate your findings quickly and effectively. That's where ClickUp's Research Paper Executive Summary Template comes in handy!

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• Summarizing the key findings and results of your study
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With ClickUp's Research Paper Executive Summary Template, you can save time and ensure that your research is easily understood by busy executives and decision-makers. Get started today and make your research stand out!

Benefits of Research Paper Executive Summary Template

When using the Research Paper Executive Summary Template in ClickUp, you'll experience the following benefits:

• Saves time by providing a pre-designed format for creating an executive summary
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• Streamlines the process of creating executive summaries, allowing you to focus on the research itself

Main Elements of Research Paper Executive Summary Template

ClickUp's Research Paper Executive Summary template is designed to help you create professional and concise summaries of your research papers. Here are the main elements of this template:

• Doc Template: Use the pre-designed Research Paper Executive Summary template to easily structure and format your executive summary.
• Custom Statuses: Track the progress of your executive summary with custom statuses such as In Progress, Review, and Complete.
• Custom Fields: Add custom fields to capture important information about your research paper, such as Research Methodology, Key Findings, and Recommendations.
• Different Views: Access different views to review and collaborate on your executive summary, including the Document Outline view, where you can quickly navigate through different sections, and the Comments view, where you can easily leave and respond to feedback.

How to Use Executive Summary for Research Paper

Writing an executive summary for a research paper can be a daunting task, but with the help of ClickUp's Research Paper Executive Summary Template, you can simplify the process. Just follow these four steps to create a concise and impactful summary:

1. Understand the purpose and scope of your research

Before you begin writing your executive summary, it's important to have a clear understanding of the purpose and scope of your research paper. What problem are you addressing, and what key findings or conclusions did you arrive at? This will help you determine what information to include in your summary.

Use the Docs feature in ClickUp to review your research paper and identify the main points that need to be highlighted in the executive summary.

2. Craft a compelling introduction

Start your executive summary with a strong and engaging introduction that captures the reader's attention. Provide a brief overview of the research topic, its significance, and any relevant background information. Clearly state the main objective of your research and why it is important.

Utilize the custom fields in ClickUp to create a section for the introduction and ensure that it is well-crafted and impactful.

3. Summarize the key findings and conclusions

In this section, summarize the main findings and conclusions of your research paper. Highlight the most important results and insights that you have discovered. Be concise and use clear language to convey your key points. Avoid unnecessary technical jargon that may confuse the reader.

Use the custom fields in ClickUp to organize and prioritize the key findings and conclusions, ensuring that they are presented in a logical and coherent manner.

4. Provide recommendations and next steps

End your executive summary by providing recommendations based on your research findings. Offer practical suggestions for further action or areas that require further investigation. This shows the reader the potential impact and value of your research.

Create tasks in ClickUp to outline the recommendations and next steps, assigning them to relevant team members if necessary. This will help ensure that your research is put into action and that the necessary follow-up is carried out.

By following these four steps and utilizing ClickUp's Research Paper Executive Summary Template, you can effectively summarize your research paper in a clear and concise manner, allowing readers to quickly grasp the main points and understand the significance of your work.

Get Started with ClickUp’s Research Paper Executive Summary Template

Researchers and academics can use this Research Paper Executive Summary Template to create effective executive summaries for their research papers.

First, hit “Add Template” to sign up for ClickUp and add the template to your Workspace. Make sure you designate which Space or location in your Workspace you’d like this template applied.

Next, invite relevant members or guests to your Workspace to start collaborating.

Now you can take advantage of the full potential of this template to create impactful executive summaries:

• Use the Summary View to provide a concise overview of the key findings, methodology, and implications of the research
• The Visuals View will help you incorporate visual elements such as graphs or charts to enhance understanding
• Use the Recommendations View to provide actionable suggestions based on the research findings
• The References View will help you list all the sources and citations used in the research paper
• Customize the template by adding sections such as Introduction, Methodology, Results, and Conclusion
• Update the executive summary as you refine your research paper to ensure it accurately reflects the final version
• Review and proofread the executive summary to ensure clarity and coherence.

Related Templates

• Ui Designers Executive Summary Template
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A guide to writing an executive summary.

Business leaders are busy — they like to know what they’re getting into before diving in. An executive summary is a great way to introduce a larger business document that will keep all parties interested and invested. If you’re looking to convey the most important aspects of a business plan or report, learning how to write an executive summary is crucial.

What is an executive summary?

An executive summary is a brief description (summarization) of a larger business document, and it’s usually the very first section of the paper. It can even be a standalone presentation or document you send to interested parties in hopes of encouraging them to take a more in-depth look at the rest of your document. An executive summary can span anywhere from a few paragraphs to several pages.

The goal is to summarize each section of the document that follows and provide any key information about the company, project, individual, or department. That way, you can share your executive summary with others to entice them to read the rest of your paper.

Why writing an executive summary is important.

An executive summary is an essential component of writing any business document, from business plans to research reports. Here are some of the key reasons why an executive summary is beneficial for different types of reports:

• Business plans. An executive summary in a business plan provides an overview of the business, including its objectives, target market, competition, financial projections, and growth plans. The summary helps investors and stakeholders quickly understand the business idea, evaluate its potential, and make informed decisions.
• Research reports. It’s essential to have an executive summary in a research report to summarize the research objectives, methodology, findings, and recommendations. The summary helps readers to quickly understand the research topic and its significance, assess the credibility of the research, and apply the insights to their work.
• Proposals. In a proposal, an executive summary summarizes the proposal’s key features, benefits, costs, and expected outcomes. The summary helps decision-makers quickly understand the proposal’s value proposition, assess its feasibility, and make informed decisions.
• White papers. An executive summary in a white paper provides an overview of the problem, the proposed solution, and the benefits of the solution. The summary helps readers quickly understand the issue, assess the credibility of the solution, and determine if the paper is worth reading in full.

Options: How to write an executive summary.

Now that you understand what should be included in an executive summary, let’s explore how to write one effectively. Depending on the type of document you’re creating, there are specific strategies to keep in mind. Below are some tips on how to write an executive summary for a proposal, business or marketing plan, and a research paper or case study.

How to write an executive summary for a proposal.

• Understand the purpose of your proposal, and tailor your executive summary format to that purpose.
• Begin with an attention-grabbing statement that summarizes the main idea of your proposal.
• Summarize the key features of your proposal, including the problem it addresses, the proposed solution, the benefits of the solution, and the costs and timeline involved.
• Emphasize the unique aspects of your proposal and the advantages it has over competing proposals.
• Include a call to action that encourages readers to take the next step, whether it’s accepting the proposal or scheduling a meeting to discuss it further.

How to write an executive summary for a business or marketing plan.

• Understand the purpose of your business or marketing plan, and tailor your executive summary format to that purpose.
• Begin with an attention-grabbing statement that summarizes the main idea of your plan.
• Summarize the key points. Your key points could include your target market, marketing objectives, strategies, tactics, budget, competition, financial projections, and growth plans.
• Emphasize the unique aspects of your business or marketing plan and the advantages it has over competing plans.
• Include a call to action that encourages readers to take the next step, whether it’s approving the plan, investing in your business, or requesting more information.

How to write an executive summary for a research paper or case study.

• Understand the purpose of your research paper or case study, and tailor your executive summary format to that purpose.
• Begin with an attention-grabbing statement that summarizes the main idea of your case study or research paper.
• Summarize the key points. For a research paper, the key points should include the research objectives, methodology, findings, and recommendations. For a case study, the key points should include the problem, solution, implementation, and results.
• Emphasize the unique aspects of your case study or the significance of your research and its potential impact on the field.
• Include a call to action that encourages readers to take the next step, whether it’s applying the lessons learned to their own situation, requesting more information citing your research, or conducting further research on the topic.

What to include in an executive summary.

Since you can use executive summaries in a wide variety of applications, there’s not always a standard format to follow. When writing an executive summary, consider which information to include based on the type of executive summary. For example, resume executive summaries might have different information than a business proposal executive summary.

Despite the variety, most executive summaries should cover at least a few key components:

• Summary or mission statement
• Problems and solutions
• Background information
• Market research
• Business model
• Financial information
• Recommendations to proceed

Some of these sections might not be relevant to your particular document, so you’re welcome to add or remove sections as needed. Just make sure you do include your paper, proposal, or resume’s essential information.

How long should an executive summary be?

The length of an executive summary can vary depending on the purpose and type of document it is summarizing. As a general rule of thumb, an executive summary should be no longer than 10% of the length of the entire document. For example, if your business plan is 20 pages long, your executive summary should be no more than 2 pages.

However, for certain types of documents, such as research papers or case studies, the executive summary may be shorter, spanning only a paragraph or two. The length of an executive summary for these types of documents will depend on the complexity and length of the original document, as well as the intended audience.

When is writing an executive summary beneficial?

Knowing when to write an executive summary can be as important as knowing how. A variety of business documents use executive summaries. Here are just a few of the most common applications:

• Business proposals
• Financial reports
• Sales reports
• Marketing proposals
• Professional resumes

If you have a business document that’s several pages long, it’s not a bad idea to include an executive summary to let interested parties know what the document is about before they take time out of their busy schedules to read it in its entirety. A summary can be especially useful when pitching your ideas to potential investors or clients.

Executive summary template.

Here is an example template for an executive summary:

Introduction Briefly introduce the purpose of the document and provide context for the reader.

Table of contents Write these in the form of a bulleted list.

Problem or opportunity Identify the problem or opportunity the document addresses and why it’s important.

Solution or recommendation Provide an overview of the proposed solution or recommendation.

Benefits Describe the potential benefits of the proposed solution or recommendation.

Market analysis (for business plans and marketing proposals) Discuss the target market, competition, and marketing strategy.

Financial analysis (for business plans and financial reports) Present financial projections and analyses, including cash flow, profit and loss, and balance sheets.

Conclusion Summarize the key points of the document and emphasize why the proposed solution or recommendation is the best option.

Call to action Encourage the reader to take the next step, whether that be to invest in the business, approve the proposal, or continue reading the full document.

This is just an example template. The sections can be modified to fit the specific needs of the document. The key is to ensure that the executive summary provides a clear and concise overview of the larger document, highlighting the most important points and encouraging the reader to continue reading.

Making your document presentable when writing an executive summary.

An executive summary is, in a sense, a kind of presentation. To make it more engaging, many professionals choose to make executive summary presentations in Microsoft PowerPoint. That way, you can formally present the information and increase interest from all parties.

PowerPoint files aren’t always great for sharing. If you need to email or share your executive summary presentation, it’s best to convert your PowerPoint to a PDF first using an online PDF editor like the one found in Adobe Acrobat online services. How? Simply follow these three easy steps:

• Visit the PDF converter tool.
• Upload your executive summary PowerPoint.
• Download your converted PDF file.

Once downloaded, you can send your PDF executive summary to anyone without worrying about formatting or compatibility issues, no matter which device they use.

More resources on business reports and documents.

Now that you’ve learned how to write an executive summary, here are more resources on business reports and documents:

• Learn how to digitize documents .
• Learn how to collaborate on documents .
• Learn how to send secure PDFs.
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• Project planning |
• How to write an executive summary, with ...

How to write an executive summary, with examples

The best way to do that is with an executive summary. If you’ve never written an executive summary, this article has all you need to know to plan, write, and share them with your team.

What is an executive summary?

An executive summary is an overview of a document. The length and scope of your executive summary will differ depending on the document it’s summarizing, but in general an executive summary can be anywhere from one to two pages long. In the document, you’ll want to share all of the information your readers and important stakeholders need to know.

Imagine it this way: if your high-level stakeholders were to only read your executive summary, would they have all of the information they need to succeed? If so, your summary has done its job.

You’ll often find executive summaries of:

Business cases

Project proposals

Research documents

Environmental studies

Market surveys

Project plans

In general, there are four parts to any executive summary:

Start with the problem or need the document is solving.

Outline the recommended solution.

Explain the solution’s value.

Wrap up with a conclusion about the importance of the work.

What is an executive summary in project management?

In project management, an executive summary is a way to bring clarity to cross-functional collaborators, team leadership, and project stakeholders . Think of it like a project’s “ elevator pitch ” for team members who don’t have the time or the need to dive into all of the project’s details.

The main difference between an executive summary in project management and a more traditional executive summary in a business plan is that the former should be created at the beginning of your project—whereas the latter should be created after you’ve written your business plan. For example, to write an executive summary of an environmental study, you would compile a report on the results and findings once your study was over. But for an executive summary in project management, you want to cover what the project is aiming to achieve and why those goals matter.

The same four parts apply to an executive summary in project management:

Start with the problem or need the project is solving.  Why is this project happening? What insight, customer feedback, product plan, or other need caused it to come to life?

Outline the recommended solution, or the project’s objectives.  How is the project going to solve the problem you established in the first part? What are the project goals and objectives?

Explain the solution’s value.  Once you’ve finished your project, what will happen? How will this improve and solve the problem you established in the first part?

Wrap up with a conclusion about the importance of the work.  This is another opportunity to reiterate why the problem is important, and why the project matters. It can also be helpful to reference your audience and how your solution will solve their problem. Finally, include any relevant next steps.

If you’ve never written an executive summary before, you might be curious about where it fits into other project management elements. Here’s how executive summaries stack up:

Executive summary vs. project plan

A  project plan  is a blueprint of the key elements your project will accomplish in order to hit your project goals and objectives. Project plans will include your goals, success metrics, stakeholders and roles, budget, milestones and deliverables, timeline and schedule, and communication plan .

An executive summary is a summary of the most important information in your project plan. Think of the absolutely crucial things your management team needs to know when they land in your project, before they even have a chance to look at the project plan—that’s your executive summary.

Executive summary vs. project overview

Project overviews and executive summaries often have similar elements—they both contain a summary of important project information. However, your project overview should be directly attached to your project. There should be a direct line of sight between your project and your project overview.

While you can include your executive summary in your project depending on what type of  project management tool  you use, it may also be a stand-alone document.

Executive summary vs. project objectives

Your executive summary should contain and expand upon your  project objectives  in the second part ( Outline the recommended solution, or the project’s objectives ). In addition to including your project objectives, your executive summary should also include why achieving your project objectives will add value, as well as provide details about how you’re going to get there.

The benefits of an executive summary

You may be asking: why should I write an executive summary for my project? Isn’t the project plan enough?

Well, like we mentioned earlier, not everyone has the time or need to dive into your project and see, from a glance, what the goals are and why they matter.  Work management tools  like Asana help you capture a lot of crucial information about a project, so you and your team have clarity on who’s doing what by when. Your executive summary is designed less for team members who are actively working on the project and more for stakeholders outside of the project who want quick insight and answers about why your project matters.

An effective executive summary gives stakeholders a big-picture view of the entire project and its important points—without requiring them to dive into all the details. Then, if they want more information, they can access the project plan or navigate through tasks in your work management tool.

How to write a great executive summary, with examples

Every executive summary has four parts. In order to write a great executive summary, follow this template. Then once you’ve written your executive summary, read it again to make sure it includes all of the key information your stakeholders need to know.

1. Start with the problem or need the project is solving

At the beginning of your executive summary, start by explaining why this document (and the project it represents) matter. Take some time to outline what the problem is, including any research or customer feedback you’ve gotten . Clarify how this problem is important and relevant to your customers, and why solving it matters.

For example, let’s imagine you work for a watch manufacturing company. Your project is to devise a simpler, cheaper watch that still appeals to luxury buyers while also targeting a new bracket of customers.

Example executive summary:

In recent customer feedback sessions, 52% of customers have expressed a need for a simpler and cheaper version of our product. In surveys of customers who have chosen competitor watches, price is mentioned 87% of the time. To best serve our existing customers, and to branch into new markets, we need to develop a series of watches that we can sell at an appropriate price point for this market.

2. Outline the recommended solution, or the project’s objectives

Now that you’ve outlined the problem, explain what your solution is. Unlike an abstract or outline, you should be  prescriptive  in your solution—that is to say, you should work to convince your readers that your solution is the right one. This is less of a brainstorming section and more of a place to support your recommended solution.

Because you’re creating your executive summary at the beginning of your project, it’s ok if you don’t have all of your deliverables and milestones mapped out. But this is your chance to describe, in broad strokes, what will happen during the project. If you need help formulating a high-level overview of your project’s main deliverables and timeline, consider creating a  project roadmap  before diving into your executive summary.

Continuing our example executive summary:

Our new watch series will begin at 20% cheaper than our current cheapest option, with the potential for 40%+ cheaper options depending on material and movement. In order to offer these prices, we will do the following:

Offer watches in new materials, including potentially silicone or wood

Use high-quality quartz movement instead of in-house automatic movement

Introduce customizable band options, with a focus on choice and flexibility over traditional luxury

Note that every watch will still be rigorously quality controlled in order to maintain the same world-class speed and precision of our current offerings.

3. Explain the solution’s value

At this point, you begin to get into more details about how your solution will impact and improve upon the problem you outlined in the beginning. What, if any, results do you expect? This is the section to include any relevant financial information, project risks, or potential benefits. You should also relate this project back to your company goals or  OKRs . How does this work map to your company objectives?

With new offerings that are between 20% and 40% cheaper than our current cheapest option, we expect to be able to break into the casual watch market, while still supporting our luxury brand. That will help us hit FY22’s Objective 3: Expanding the brand. These new offerings have the potential to bring in upwards of three million dollars in profits annually, which will help us hit FY22’s Objective 1: 7 million dollars in annual profit.

Early customer feedback sessions indicate that cheaper options will not impact the value or prestige of the luxury brand, though this is a risk that should be factored in during design. In order to mitigate that risk, the product marketing team will begin working on their go-to-market strategy six months before the launch.

4. Wrap up with a conclusion about the importance of the work

Now that you’ve shared all of this important information with executive stakeholders, this final section is your chance to guide their understanding of the impact and importance of this work on the organization. What, if anything, should they take away from your executive summary?

To round out our example executive summary:

Cheaper and varied offerings not only allow us to break into a new market—it will also expand our brand in a positive way. With the attention from these new offerings, plus the anticipated demand for cheaper watches, we expect to increase market share by 2% annually. For more information, read our  go-to-market strategy  and  customer feedback documentation .

Example of an executive summary

When you put it all together, this is what your executive summary might look like:

Common mistakes people make when writing executive summaries

You’re not going to become an executive summary-writing pro overnight, and that’s ok. As you get started, use the four-part template provided in this article as a guide. Then, as you continue to hone your executive summary writing skills, here are a few common pitfalls to avoid:

Avoid using jargon

Your executive summary is a document that anyone, from project contributors to executive stakeholders, should be able to read and understand. Remember that you’re much closer to the daily work and individual tasks than your stakeholders will be, so read your executive summary once over to make sure there’s no unnecessary jargon. Where you can, explain the jargon, or skip it all together.

Remember: this isn’t a full report

Your executive summary is just that—a summary. If you find yourself getting into the details of specific tasks, due dates, and attachments, try taking a step back and asking yourself if that information really belongs in your executive summary. Some details are important—you want your summary to be actionable and engaging. But keep in mind that the wealth of information in your project will be captured in your  work management tool , not your executive summary.

Make sure the summary can stand alone

You know this project inside and out, but your stakeholders won’t. Once you’ve written your executive summary, take a second look to make sure the summary can stand on its own. Is there any context your stakeholders need in order to understand the summary? If so, weave it into your executive summary, or consider linking out to it as additional information.

Always proofread

Your executive summary is a living document, and if you miss a typo you can always go back in and fix it. But it never hurts to proofread or send to a colleague for a fresh set of eyes.

In summary: an executive summary is a must-have

Executive summaries are a great way to get everyone up to date and on the same page about your project. If you have a lot of project stakeholders who need quick insight into what the project is solving and why it matters, an executive summary is the perfect way to give them the information they need.

For more tips about how to connect high-level strategy and plans to daily execution, read our article about strategic planning .

Related resources

Unmanaged business goals don’t work. Here’s what does.

How Asana uses work management to drive product development

How Asana uses work management to streamline project intake processes

How Asana uses work management for smoother creative production

Executive Summaries

Executive Summaries are much like any other summary in that their main goal is to provide a condensed version of the content of a longer report.

The executive summary is usually no longer than 10% of the original document. It can be anywhere from 1-10 pages long, depending on the report's length. Executive summaries are written literally for an executive who most likely DOES NOT have the time to read the original.

• Executive summaries make a recommendation
• Accuracy is essential because decisions will be made based on your summary by people who have not read the original
• Executive summaries frequently summarize more than one document

The Mountain Resort charges below average rental rates. ( concise statement of findings ) The attached report recommends a 20% increase in price for the following equipment: 1. downhill skis, 2. telemark skis, 3. boots/shoes for downhill, telemark, and cross-country skis.( specific recommendation for action )

Based on average rental business for 1992-1995, these increases would generate an annual rental profit for Mountainview of $750,000. This figure represents an overall gain of $150,000 over current rental profits. ( justification for proposed action )

Types of Summaries

Summaries written in order to recommend a specific course of action are executive summaries.

Summaries that highlight the major points of a long piece are called abstracts. The purpose of an abstract is to allow readers to decide whether or not they want to read the longer text.

Standard summary only refers to a summary of someone else's published work and is written for a variety of purposes.

Processes for Writing an Executive Summary

Executive summaries are typically written for longer reports. They should not be written until after your report is finished. Before writing your summary, try:

• Summarizing the major sections of your report. You might even copy text from your report into the summary and then edit it down.
• Talking aloud or even tape recording yourself summarizing sections of your report.

Questions to Ask Yourself as You Write

• What is your report about?
• Why is it important?
• What is included in the report?
• What is included in each section?

Concise Statement

As a cover sheet to your document, an executive summary need not go into ANY mention of how you conducted your analysis and/or what you're basing your conclusion on. Instead, begin with a concise statement of the conclusion you reached after conducting your analysis and/or research is the paper that will be attached. For example, after a comparison of what other schools like CSU do about personal calls for faculty, you conclude that the CSU is charging for calls most other institutions do not.

How you word the conclusion will differ depending on your audience and what they care most about. The following examples illustrate how the wording must change given an audience's needs.

Colorado State should discontinue the practice of charging faculty for personal calls.

This is a good example if the people you work for are only interested in this issue. It begins with a summary of conclusions regarding only the CSU population.

Because I have found that over 75% of comparable institutions do not charge for personal calls, I have concluded that our faculty is justified in objecting to this practice which should be seen as a "perk" for our faculty.

This sentence provides unnecessary information about other institutions and/or why the faculty think they deserve to have these calls paid for. Your readers can get that information from the report. Further, the use of "I" is unnecessary since your readers already know who wrote the report.

Writing Recommendations

After beginning with a summary statement of your findings, the executive summary should go on to provide a specific recommendation for action geared toward your audience. For example, the report on charging for personal calls was requested by the president's office, not the individual departments and colleges who actually determine policy. As a result, the recommendation for action is geared toward what the president's office should do, not the other departments involved. To learn more about writing recommendations:

After summarizing the entire article and/or research report(s), an executive summary ends with a one or two line recommendation for action.

Simple Formula

Executive summaries frequently make use of transitional phrases to encapsulate the preceding information in the same sentence as the recommendation. The format can almost be envisioned as a formula:

[transitional word] + [concise statement of information provided in summary], I recommend that [corporation, office, person in question] do [recommendations].

More Complex Recommendations

In other cases, the recommendation might be complicated enough to justify a summary of causes for the recommendation. In this case, the recommendation paragraph usually begins with a summary of how the writer reached the recommendation.

Susie's Cookies began as a small business in Cleveland, Ohio which has expanded to include 45 stores throughout the Midwest. Plans have already been instituted to expand sales nationwide, using the same "mall-concept" marketing strategy which has proven successful in the Midwest. Despite these plans, Susie's Cookies may be in danger of bankruptcy.

Susie's quadrupled its sales in the last two quarters, realizing a profit of $750,000 in the current year, an increase of $250,000 over the previous year, due to its increase in advertising. To realize equivalent sale figures nationwide, however, it is projected that advertising costs will increase by 200% for the first two years of the national expansions. Further, construction costs for the new stores are estimated to be 20 million dollars.

The result of increased advertising and construction costs will put a substantial debt burden on Susie's cookies, an estimated $750,00 to 1 million a year. Given that sales did not reach current levels in the Midwest until the 45 stores had been operating for five years, projected sales nationally will not cover expansion costs. As a result, Susie's Cookies is likely to show a loss of almost $2 million for at least the next five years.

Due to the high advertisement and development costs of national expansion. Susie's Cookies may not be able to continue doing business in the future. Therefore, I recommend that Mrs. Field's does not participate in the hostile takeover under consideration because the threat of competition will not be realized.

Justification

Finally, an executive summary provides an analysis and/or justification for the proposed action in terms the audience will consider important. In many cases, this might involve a monetary analysis as in the example to the right, but actions can be justified many ways, depending on the concerns of the audience and the topic of the report (e.g. for CSU these might include increase in student learning, better relationship with the community, etc.).

• Example : Based on the current number and length of long-distance personal calls by faculty, such a proposal would cost the university $150,000 annually. In comparison to the overall budget, this is a small amount, but one which might "pay for itself" in terms of faculty satisfaction and possible recruitment benefits.

justification for the recommendation by referring to information summarized. A recommendations justification is usually based on a reference to material already provided in the summary.

In other cases, the justification for the recommendation might be complicated enough to justify a summary of causes for the justification. In this case, the recommendation paragraph usually begins with a summary of how the writer reached the conclusion that leads to the justification.

Citation Information

Donna LeCourt. (1994-2024). Executive Summaries. The WAC Clearinghouse. Colorado State University. Available at https://wac.colostate.edu/repository/writing/guides/.

Copyright Information

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